Overall impression: Excellent, beautifully fitted out with lovely antique furniture and extra effects plus lots of interesting books, also the pool was super and kept very clean . We loved the wild boars in the forest, it was truly a wonderful setting. Pool too deep and not fenced off, two level ground floor, and top quality funiture make the house possibly not very suitable for young children. However we loved it and would like to return next year.
A folder with tips about the house and equipment plus suggestions for places to visit with instructions how to get to and from them would have been a great help. Silly things like where the bakery was etc..
Highlights: Siena
Unpleasant surprises: After the tranquility of Saturday and Sunday a team of bulldozers and rock
sifters moved into the next door vineyard to start work every morning at 7am. We felt very sorry for Marco as it must be an owners worst nightmare as well as ours. Anyway the upside was the boys all 60plus spent many hours watching progress of the diggers etc and we hope to return having been present at the birth of a new vineyard to sample its produce eventually. 
Joy (UK)

[our comment: The vineyard work is now complete (July 2007), this is something that only occurs extremely occasionally when they need to redo the vineyards after many years of production]

Overall impression: It was stunningly gorgeous...the pictures on the website don't do it justice at all (and they look really good)!  Marco has such an amazing attention to detail: all the finishing touches--from the at least 250-thread count sheets on the beds, to the fluffy towels, to the marble countertops in the kitchen and the brand-new state-of-the-art appliances, to the fabulous paintings and antiques placed throughout the house--were perfect.  We felt completely and totally spoiled, which made us very glad that our stay here was during our second week in Italy!  Otherwise, we'd have been ruined for anyplace else. 
 Also, Marco was SO helpful to us, especially in trying to get back some items that we left in our previous villa--the language barrier between us and the caretaker of that villa was too great for us to manage successfully.  He talked to that caretaker twice on our behalf: once to set up the original time to pick up the items, and once to set up a second pick up time and explain that we got lost and had a minor car accident the first time.  He really took care of us.  We ran into him at a restaurant in Gaiole our last night there and chatted some--he's just the nicest guy and the best host we could have ever thought possible.
Highlights: Aside from touring around Chianti, Florence, Montalcino and Montepulciano, we really had some of the most fun doing "normal" things.  For example, we became big fans of the Ipercoop in Montevarchi (great pizza, by the way, in case you get hungry from shopping), taking trains from Montevarchi station into Florence and Rome, hanging out at the villa making dinner, and even just taking showers in the fabulous bathroom and going to bed every night in those wonderful sheets!
Unpleasant surprises: No; not at all.
Tracy (USA)

Dympna
Sorry I haven't replied earlier - indeed we had a marvellous holiday at le Cacaie - which is a most tasteful, beautiful conversion with a terrific, sheltered pool in an idyllic part of Chiantishire - with lots of garden and stunning views.  We have no complaints (the disturbance caused by the stone-breaking machines was an integral part of the agriculture there, and is a once in 20 years occurrence! To redefine the landscape for vine planting... I understand!) It is perhaps a pity that the smallest room does not have some kind of window out to the garden in front - perhaps at the top of the room, it only has a sky-light, dormer window, so some people might find that a little claustrophobic - my daughter who stayed in it didn't mind, however).  A larger coffee pot would have been handy!  But these are only small things, and not of much significance.  The host was charming, and we would love to exchange lives!
Many thanks
Susan (United Kingdom)